Sep 25, 2008

Sport- F1;Kubica can win the championship says BMW

SINGAPORE: BMW Sauber chief Mario Theissen is confident his driver Robert Kubica still has a great chance of overtaking Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa and winning the world championship. The Pole is currently 14 points behind leader Hamilton, in a McLaren, and 13 behind Ferrari's Massa with four races to go, starting with the first-ever night race in Singapore this weekend. Kubica came in third at the last Grand Prix in Italy, picking up valuable points on his main rivals who finished seventh and sixth respectively. "It's a situation still offering Robert the chance of making it to the very top in the world championships," Theissen said. The fact that Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen closed a 17-point gap on Hamilton with two races left to win the championship last year is not lost on Kubica and BMW. But their crack at the world title does not necessarily mean Kubika will be favoured by the team over Nick Heidfeld, insisted Theissen. Heidfeld is currently fifth in the standings on 53 points and mathematically also has a chance of winning the championship. "There is no hierarchy, meaning that we say one of our drivers is number one and the other is our number two, prior to a race," said Theissen. "Our team is set up in a way that both our drivers will be provided with the same support, the same resources and the same know-how. Then, you just have to wait and see what happens in the race. "At the same time, it goes without saying that Robert can rely on our full support." Kubica said he had always liked street circuits and was looking forward to the race this week, which will wind around the Marina Bay circuit under lights. "I am looking forward to it because it's a street circuit and throughout my career I've always performed well on such tracks," he said.